6:13pm

WVAS Local

ASU Funding

By MelanieHogan

A Baldwin County senator now says a proposal to cut $10 million dollars from Alabama State University's Operating Budget will be restored. Tripp Pittman, who chairs a Senate Budget committee, tells Al.com, that he will work with the chairman of an Alabama House committee to add the $10 million back to ASU's appropriation.

Voter ID

In elections that begin next week, voters in 10 states, including Alabama will be required to present identification before casting ballots, the first major test of voter ID laws after years of legal challenges arguing that the measures are designed to suppress voting. The first election is March 4th in Texas, followed by nine other primaries running including the June primaries in Alabama that will set the ballot for the midterm elections in November.

Life Sentence

A 38-year-old Montgomery man is facing a life prison sentence for killing a Birmingham man in a drive-by shooting almost two years ago. Christopher Gallant was convicted of capital murder Wednesday afternoon by a Jefferson County jury. Gallant was found guilty in connection with the May 2012 slaying of 39-year-old Ralph Woodfin. Birmingham authorities said Woodfin was gunned down on a street on the city's south side. Gallant , who has prior convictions for robbery and burglary, was arrested several weeks later in Dauphin Island.

Mother Charged

Authorities in Shelby County found the body of a 19-month-old boy inside a burning car and have charged the boy's mother with reckless murder. Alabaster Police Chief Curtin Rigney said officers and firefighters responded to a one-car accident Friday morning. When they arrived, they found 22-year-old Sommer Wilford of Maylene standing outside the burning car. When they put out the fire, they found the child's body inside. The mother was charged with reckless murder and is being held on $300,000 bond. Alabaster Police declined to say what prompted them to charge the mother.